A Medicare Enrollment Forum will be hosted at city hall at 630 Avenue C on Wednesday, November 29, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., to help prepare residents for the open enrollment period for healthcare coverage starting in January. Open enrollment runs through December 7.

At the presentation, residents will be able to view their current Medicare coverage and compare plan options. Those options include Part D prescription drug plans and lowering premium costs in 2018. The presentation will also provide information about PAAD and Senior Gold Discount programs. Staff from the Bayonne Office of Aging will offer one-on-one appointments. Refreshments will be provided. Call the Bayonne Office of Aging for more information at (201) 858-6119.

Christmas Tree Lightings

Bayonne lit its first Christmas tree at a street festival on November 21. Another tree at Bayonne Medical Center will be lit on Monday, December 4 at 4 p.m. Another at Dr. Morris Park on Broadway and 47th Street will be lit at 6:30 that evening. The next day, December 5 at 4:30 p.m., the tree at Fitzpatrick Park on Avenue C and 26th Street will be lit. Then on Saturday, December 9 at 5:30 p.m., a tree in Bergen Point at Trinity Parish will be lit.Christmas carolers will sing on Broadway between 17th and 30th Streets on Friday, December 8 from 6 – 8 p.m.

Should the PATH run to Newark Airport? Let the Port Authority know!

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will hold two public hearings regarding a possible PATH extension near Newark Airport.

The first hearing will take place Nov. 28, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Weequahic Park Sports Authority Community Center in Newark. The center is at 92 Carmichael Dr.

The second hearing will be Nov. 30, also from 5 to 8 p.m., at the Hilton Newark Penn Station's Garden State Ballroom. The hotel is at 1048 Raymond Blvd.

If everything goes as planned, the new station will be on off-airport property east of Frelinghuysen Avenue (at Noble Street), according to the Port Authority website. It would also be near the Newark Liberty International Airport New Jersey Transit station and PANYNJ monorail station in Newark.

"The purpose of the proposed project is to improve transit access to employment centers in Newark, Jersey City, and New York City for New Jersey commuters and increase transit options to EWR for air travelers and airport employees," the expansion website says.

For more information, contact the project team at (917) 933-7440, or email PATHextension@panynj.gov.

Bayonne residents on Murphy’s transition team

Gov.-elect Phil Murphy named more than 500 people across 15 committees to submit reports and recommendations that will inform the new administration’s legislative and regulatory agenda.

Ray Greaves, State Council Chair of the Amalgamated Transit Union and aide to Mayor James Davis, will sit on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Mike Embrich, a Navy veteran from Bayonne, will sit on the Military and Veteran Affairs committee. Michael Cranston, President of Bayonne Dry Dock, will sit on the Labor and Workforce Development committee.

Morris Canal Greenway moving ahead

The Morris Canal was once the main mode of transporting industrial goods across NJ’s diverse geography to the ports along the region’s waterways. The canal, which passes through Jersey City and the most northern section of Bayonne, fell into disuse as innovations in rail and road transportation rendered canals mostly obsolete. Some pieces of the original 102-mile canal remain, and the state’s goal is to create contiguous hiking and biking parks that stretch across six NJ counties, from the Delaware River in Phillipsburg, Pennsylvania, to the Hudson River in Jersey City, reports James M. O’Neil for The Record.

The Jersey City Redevelopment Authority is moving forward with developing a portion of the Morris Canal Greenway by purchasing several vertical tracts of land from the City of Bayonne, from the Route 440 near Wonder Bagels to West 63rd Street near McGovern Park. The land is within Jersey City municipal borders and has been mostly vacant since the canal’s closing. When complete, 8.5 of the 102-mile Greenway will be in Jersey City, according to Jersey City’s Morris Canal Greenway Plan.

A federal judge in San Francisco permanently blocked the enforcement of President Donald Trump’s executive order on Monday, November 20,that called to restrict federal grant money from so-called “sanctuary cities.”

U.S. District Court Judge William Orrick ruled the order unconstitutional for violating separation of powers and due process of law because the President does not have the authority to deprive local jurisdictions of funds allocated by Congress.

A “sanctuary city” is not legally defined, but is generally considered to be a local jurisdiction that does not comply with requests from federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in detaining undocumented persons unless they are involved in serious crimes. Over 200 localities refused to cooperate in 2015, according to congressional testimony from the Director of ICE.

Jersey City and Union City adopted sanctuary city ordinances in 2017, while other Hudson County leaders have voiced opposition to the President’s rhetoric and actions.

Mayor Steven Fulop said in January, “Jersey City was founded as a city of immigrants, and we are unwilling to be part of orders that break families apart or harm immigrants who are in this country.”

When Union City passed an ordinance declaring sanctuary city status in February, Mayor Brian Stack said in response to a resident’s concerns that the ordinance “will putan x on the back” of Union City. “I don’t believe that the president of the United States could make local police enforce immigration laws that are supposed to be federally enforced. Second, I don’t believe the court system will allow it. I think that common sense will prevail, and they won’t allow it.”

The litigation over the executive order will continue in federal appellate court, and possibly the U.S. Supreme Court, if either case makes it that far.

Could legalized marijuana bring higher car insurance rates?

If Gov.-elect Phil Murphy succeeds in his pledge to legalize marijuana in New Jersey, car insurance rates could rise. The Highway Loss Data Institute, a nonprofit research organization financed by auto insurers, says that after marijuana was legalized in Colorado, Oregon, and Washington, collision claims rose about 3 percent higher than would have been expected without legalized marijuana. NJ already has the 14th highest average car insurance premiums in the country, according to Insure.com, and Hudson County has some of the highest car insurance rates in the state.

Scientists urging NJ to set strict limits on chemicals in drinking water

New Jersey scientists are urging the state to strictly limit a chemical that has been linked to cancer, developmental problems, and changes to the human immune system in the drinking water supply. NJ Spotlights reports that the Drinking Water Quality Institute is considering a recommendation to set a limit of 13 parts per trillion for perfluorooctane sulfonate, or PFOS, as the level at which human health would be protected over a lifetime of exposure. The limit would be the strictest set by any state.